Justin Theroux took a dramatic turn with The Leftovers, but he's still got a sense of humor.

These days, the 42-year-old TV star's ability to laugh is especially commendable, given that the tabloids frequently write about his two-year engagement to Jennifer Aniston as if it were a real-life soap opera.

"I can't get over how terrible the narrative is, just how poorly written it is," he says in Elle's August 2014 issue. "It's worse than a telenovela. It's so dramatic. Like, 'They're broken up, they're together, they're storming out, storming in, rushing out, rushing in.' They make every celebrity look like a schizophrenic."

From the moment he began dating his Wanderlust co-star, Theroux admits, "My life changed a lot. More people are like, 'Hey, man!' And I don't think that's from my role in John Adams. But it only changed as much as I engaged with it, and I learned very quickly: Don't ever engage with it. Just JKL. It was a learning curve, but it wasn't as traumatic as you might expect. It's just annoying. Occasionally you'll get a stewardess congratulating you, on, I don't know, whatever, some three-headed baby we just had."

Though his relationship with Aniston is under the microscope, Theroux has managed to keep an air of mystery. In fact, when the interviewer mentions she'll ask about his fiancée, he replies, "You can try!"

Thankfully, Amy Sedaris—who met Theroux through mutual friend Philip Seymour Hoffman—lifts the veil for Elle. "Justin's got this dark side—he'll go there. But more than anyone I've ever met, he just really does blossom with sunshine," the comedic actress says. Taking it a step further, she reveals, "Justin is like a girlfriend. He'll do girly things with you: He'll tan, he'll put your makeup on for you, he gives great advice."